I misplaced by purse the other day. I have never, not even once, done that.
When other women related stories about losing their handbags or forgetting them in stores and restaurants, I was always baffled. How could you forget something so essential?
If you carry a purse, then from the time you are quite young (in some cases a pre-teen) you get used to having something hanging off your shoulder, arm or hand. It becomes a part of you—sort of like your hand or your arm.
So I would wonder how you could forget your arm or hand. To me, losing a handbag would be as unthinkable as that.
Then I did it.
And worse, I didn’t even realize it was missing until I was ready to go to bed. Predictably, panic set in. I searched everywhere—the car, every room of the house, the car again, silly places like the top of the car and a bin of donations for Goodwill. Then I searched the house again—and the car, again. Finally, I allowed myself to realize that the purse was AWOL, missing in action. I imagined someone on a spending spree, using my debit and credit cards. I lamented the loss of my new driver’s license—the one with the half-way decent photo of me. I started to make a list of the contents of the errant handbag. I even went on line (at 2 a.m.) to check my bank account, to try to determine if someone was cleaning out my checking account with the debit card.
I retraced all of my activities, trying to recall the last time I had the purse. We had returned from a trip to the beach. First we went to dinner and then stopped to pick up Sparkle from the dog sitter’s. I recalled having my purse in the rest room at the restaurant—had I left it there, perched on top of the paper towel dispenser? My husband had used an ATM to get cash to pay the dog sitter and I thought that I had stuffed the money to pay her into my pocket—or had I? Did I leave my handbag in the car when I went into the dog sitter’s house to collect Sparkle’s stuff ? Everything was muddled.
I knew that it would be impossible to sleep—and that I couldn’t call the restaurant where we had dinner or the dog-sitter, to ask if the purse was left in either location. After all, it was three o’clock in the morning—and everything is closed and normal people are asleep.
I resigned myself to a sleepless night, wondering if I should call the bank and the credit card company, worried that my cell phone was being used to call long-lost relatives in every corner of the globe.
Then I recalled placing my purse on the counter at the dog sitter’s when we went to pick up our “puppy.” She and I had been chatting about how wonderful my dog is (really!) and how much she enjoyed sitting for Sparkle. I remembered picking up Sparkle’s toys and tossing them into her carry case, paying the dog sitter and then joining my hubby and Sparkle in the car. He was driving, so I didn’t need to find my keys. When we got home, I read for a while, checked emails, and then decided to go to bed.
And that was when I discovered that my purse was gone.
This story does have a happy ending—I left the purse at the dog sitter’s home, on a chair. She didn’t notice it until the next morning.
So my purse and I have been joyfully (on my part) reunited.
Misplacing my purse reminded me how easy it is to lose something important. And how easy it is, ultimately, to replace stuff.
And it reminded me that no matter how careful we think we are, unexpected things happen and that sometimes the outcome isn’t all that bad.
Maybe it’s luck, maybe it’s providence—but I am grateful for this little blessing.
While on vacation in Hawaii, I left my purse hanging on a chair in the outside waiting area of a popular restaurant. It wasn’t until we had finished our dinner and were
presented the check that we realized my purse with ALL our traveler’s checks was missing.
I ran to the chair and found my purse undisturbed. Mahalo to the Hawaiian gods.
And to all the gods and guardian angels who look out for us !
Really related to and enjoyed this story – glad for the happy ending
Sandi
Me too, Sandi. I was in a panic.
I once left my purse in a shopping cart at the grocery store. I don’t know how I over looked it. I did panic when I realized I didn’t have it when I got home. Fortunately, I to was reunited with my purse and nothing was missing. I never knew who the good samaritan was. I do thank God for looking out for me.
What a relief it is to get your purse back! Thanks for sharing.
Kathy,
I am happy that you only had one missing purse experience in your life.
The most embarrassing time was when I was on tour of NY State with the Buffalo State Choir directed by Silas Boyd. We were on the bus traveling to our next concert location, when I realized I did not have my purse. Fortunately, a person drove from that town and met the bus with my purse.
On Long Island, at the Pathmark parking lot, I did the unthinkable, put my purse in the baby seat of the cart while I loaded groceries into the car.
A young man in a flanned plaid shirt whizzed by, scooped up my purse and fled to a waiting card. I ran up to the car, crying help, noted the license number and then backed off thinking they could be armed. The liquor store owner let me phone the police, who said the number was of a stolen vehicle.
Frustrated, back at home, I cancelled my credit card numbers. The next day a stranger came with my purse that he found at the side of the road.
The only thing missing was my thirty dollars. My credit card was intact and had not been used. Wow!
The moral is never leave a purse un-attended or in the shopping-cart baby seat.
My third purse ordeal was at the Solivita Movies. I left my bag under the seat. I had the pleasure of meeting Diane Schoeffel who discovered it and returned it.
So Kathy, again I am glad you only had one purse “loss!”
Regards,
Bobbi
Thanks Bobbi for sharing your stories. They add so much to my blog. Glad your purse stories had a happy ending, too.
Wow, a nice ending. I left two rings in a hotel restroom many years ago. They were my Mom’s. Didn’t realize they were gone until I got home. The next morning I drove back to the hotel restroom and guess what, an Angel had protected the rings and they were still there. Yes, I too believe in miracles.
Thanks for your writings, Kathy.
I love the stories people share with me when I write this blogs! Thanks,